The Three Days Initiative

“You got it?”

“Yeah, where do I send it?”

“Let’s see. Right, this batch is for agricultural use in the European region.” Kleen replied after checking the system.

James nodded but grimace, he hated water used that way. The world was supposed to be on life support, residential use should be the priority. After all, a person can go without food for 3 weeks but only 3 days without water. It was a simple calculus James thought the authorities should have no problem doing.

The world in 2100 was very different from the one a mere 10 years ago. The global war over water ended, the countries made peace, but the problem remained. They desalinated and reclaimed all they could, but the planet with 3 quarters of the surface covered in water was almost dry. Humanity looked everywhere to solve the problem, underground, outer space and even time. When time travel was finally viable, a novel bureaucrat suggested perhaps they could harvest water from the past.

It was quickly accepted, and the authorities passed the Three Days Initiative. Contractors, called watermen, were sent to extract a specific quantity of water in the past, and deliver them to a designated customer in the present. To avoid overexploitation, a global system was devised to track and harvest the bodies of water from the past. Watermen were forbidden from harvesting from a body of water in a time period without permission.

James worked as a waterman for almost 3 years, serving as an apprentice to his boss, Kleen. James eventually gained enough experience that he started doing runs by himself, piloting his own craft at age 18. A water run was largely a routine and uneventful affair, James often felt he was simply a glorified courier without the glorified part.

“Hey Kleen, why no one ever thought to go back and tell the people to manage the water properly?” James mused.

“You know why, James. Altering the past results in changes in the present that are impossible to track. That’s why we have the global system in the first place, to minimize the changes. Besides, the Initiative is temporary, this new plan by the authorities is going to replenish and supply all the water we ever need.” Kleen answered James, like a teacher handling an eager student’s questions.

James was unenthused by the answer, this “new plan” was widely advertised for years. James did the final checks on his craft and confirmed the details of his run with Kleen. He scanned through the document of his contract, he was heading to a medium sized lake in North America, in the year 1700. James sighed, travelling this far back in the past meant he was not allowed to loiter. Being able to travel back and experience the sights of that era was part of the perks of being a waterman. James read on and saw that given the size of the lake; he would be the only craft allowed to harvest. So no travelling and no contact, James groaned at what was likely to be a dull run.   

To ease the transit through time, scientists refined the technology to the point where it became a thoroughly boring affair. A pilot might not even know he arrived at the targeted time period if not for the instruments indicating so on his craft. James however was fortunate enough to land close to his destination, which meant he could simply peer out the window to determine he reached. The lake was not large by any standard, but it was a sight to behold for there were none like it anymore where he was from.

James contemplated jumping into the lake for a swim while the craft harvested, he refused for the trip to be a total bore. He hovered the craft over the lake and readied the mechanisms for harvesting. It was then an alert blared from the cockpit; it had picked up another craft in the vicinity. A faulty indicator was James’ first thought, but he was instantly proved wrong when he saw another craft just outside the window.

James was dumbfounded for a moment before he scrambled to find his contract to double check the terms. His was the only craft authorized to harvest, the system would have locked out any other craft and made travel there impossible. James considered for a moment his options, he could abort and return back to base to sort out this mess. Or he could confront the craft and find out just what the hell was going on.

James decided on the latter and boarded the unauthorized craft moments later. When his verbal challenges went unanswered, James realized the craft was empty. The craft’s system was fully operational and had a strange mix of the familiar and new. Some parts looked almost alien, while others looked as if they were around for centuries, heavily worn down and rusted. James located the cockpit but saw a whole bunch of equipment stuffed into it, obstructing it in such a way that only a small child could squeeze in. From what he could tell, the equipment served as a sort of automated system, allowing the craft to be operated remotely or by some kind of artificial intelligence. It was not exactly advanced technology, but James thought it was embarrassing no one thought this system should have been the norm.

James continued to examined the craft and discovered it was not connected to the Initiative’s global system. Navigating a successful trip through time and space was supposed to be a death sentence without it. Even black-market versions to time travel were largely non-existent, a feat deemed far too risky and costly. James investigated further and stumbled upon an even more startling discovery. He decided he had seen enough and programmed the craft to head back to his base before leaving for his own craft to do the same.

“Did you understand what I just said?” James emphasized after being a little underwhelmed by Kleen’s reaction.

Aside from it not being connected to the Initiative’s global system, the unauthorized craft’s log also showed it was from the year 2200, almost 90 years in their future. The “temporary” initiative was still in effect for almost a century! James further speculated the nature of the unauthorized craft to be some kind of illegal, pirate operation. That meant not only was the water crisis not resolved, but the Initiative also likely broke down to into an anarchic situation, a desperate free for all to harvest water.

“So, what’s your point? Maybe the plan took a little longer than expected?” Kleen offered an explanation.

James however was far from convinced. He felt that the public ought to know that “the plan” would take a lot longer, and likely not materialize at all. The authorities had vigorously tried to convince the public that matters were in hand. Despite the crisis, water usage barely changed, and rationing were mostly token gestures. The authorities thought maintaining this semblance of normality was crucial for keeping up morale and order to society, though it severely strained the water recovered from the Three Days Initiative. James was adamant their discovery be made public to spur them out of their delusion.

Determining that there was nothing he could say to deter James’s resolve, Kleen directed him to a large warehouse at the back of the hanger. He also signaled some of the staff to bring the unauthorized craft with them. Kleen flipped a large switch and a series of lights hopped through the vast warehouse full of water harvesting crafts. James had never been to this part of the base before. He saw that most of the crafts had no descriptions or panels to indicate their purpose.

“What’s all this?”

“These, James, are crafts recovered by other watermen. From the future.” Kleen explained. “Most of them were 100 to 150 years from now, the furthest we had so far was from 300 years ahead. The standard procedure for encountering such crafts is to keep them here.”

James pondered the implications of what he was shown. It meant that the authorities knew the plan was never likely to work, if there was a plan at all. James concluded that their demise was merely delayed, and the Initiative was simply the best solution they had, for however long it would last.  

A shell-shocked James was startled when Kleen clapped his hands on his shoulders, “Don’t look so glum, James! I actually take this as a sign we are going to make it!”

James stared at Kleen in bewilderment.

“Think about it, 300 years from now we can still harvest water from the past, that means it still works! The Three Days Initiative isn’t a stopgap, it is the solution!” Kleen laughingly declared as he led James out of the warehouse.